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SEE Biotech | |
| From The University of Wisconsin-Madison/Extension | ||
| Sponsored by a grant from USDA/CSREES/IFAFS | ||
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The Role of Genomics |
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Michael SussmanDirector, UW Biotechnology Center |
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| My research is focused on studying key transport and signal transducing proteins in the plasma membrane of higher plants and fungi. My laboratory is also involved in developing new genomic technologies for investigating the plasma membrane. Examples include a genome wide method for creating 'knockout' plants, development of a benchtop machine for creating DNA chips 'on the fly' and the use of mass spectrometers for analyzing the plant proteome and metabilome. All of our work is focused on Arabidopsis thaliana because its genome is completely sequenced and it is easy to create mutants in any gene of interest. | |||
| We are dedicated to using (and in some cases, in developing) state-of-the-art genomic technologies to understand how the plant plasma membrane functions. With the completion of the Arabidopsis genome sequence, we now have the opportunity to start with actual sequences rather than phenotypes or bands on gels. For example, before the genome was sequenced, the main genetic approach was classical ÔforwardÕ genetics, in which a population of plants is mutagenized and then screened for plants that show an abnormal phenotype. My lab has been instrumental in developing an alternative approach, called Ôreverse geneticsÕ, whereby we first isolate a plant in which the normal function of one particular gene has been destroyed (these are called ÔknockoutsÕ) and then we ask the question, how does the absence of that gene product affect the growth of the plant? An interesting observation that has been made with these knockouts is that the vast majority show no clear phenotypic difference from wildtype, grown under standard laboratory conditions. We believe that one reason for this is that there is a large amount of redundancy in the plant genome; i.e., most genes are present in families that encode similar proteins of overlapping function. Hence, it is necessary to isolate double and triple and quadruple knockouts; i.e., all of the genes within a particular family have to be knocked out to obtain a robust phenotype. | |||
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| Copyright © 2003 The Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System. /Extension Page created November 7, 2002 Last updated November 8, 2002 Hosted by the UWBC Web server |
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